


Strawberries & Cigarettes (they always taste like you)

by taeyoooooong



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Na Jaemin is Whipped, Sad Lee Jeno, Strangers to Friends, Underage Smoking, Why do I do this, but its ok jaemin loves him, inspired by troye sivan i love him, its a happy ending folks, its ok, jeno is a kinda sad boi, jeno is a soft bad boy, kinda song-fic, mentions of child abuse, nomin are my babies, they are super soft for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 02:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taeyoooooong/pseuds/taeyoooooong
Summary: Jeno is a typical bad boy. He smokes, skips class, gets into fights.Jaemin is the opposite. He's one of the top students, and is just an all around sweetheart.But despite common tropes, Jeno is actually really soft, and they don't hate each other at all.





	Strawberries & Cigarettes (they always taste like you)

It was a normal day in English class for Jaemin. He sat down in the desk next to the window, and took out his notebook. Waiting for the teacher to arrive, he turned around in his seat to talk to his friends.

“Class, settle down. I have news for you all.”

The class immediately quieted down. “Since it’s almost the end of the semester, you’ll be switching English teachers. So, I will assign a project as a final for you all.”

Groans could be heard throughout the room. “Now, calm down. I will allow you to have partners to ease the workload. But, I will choose them.”

Jaemin started praying inside of his head, and looked down at his notebook, prepared for the worse.

“Lee Jeno and Na Jaemin.”

Jaemin looked up from his notebook, and his jaw dropped. Lee Jeno? The boy who was notorious for skipping class and having fights? Rest in peace, Jaemin’s english grade. Hearing his friends’ snickers, he turned around to look at Jeno’s seat. And, he wasn’t even there.

Jaemin plopped his head onto the desk with a thunk, and wallowed in his misery.

After class, he went over to the table outside the library and plopped down in his usual seat next to renjun.

“I’m officially done for, guys. I got Lee Jeno as my partner. He wasn’t even in class when the partners were announced.”

As all of his friends slowly settled in and set their stuff on the ground, they tried to comfort him.

“Well, I mean, you’re smart enough. I think you could do it yourself if worst comes to worst,” Mark reasoned as he opened a can of yogurt.

“Please. You all know English is my worst subject.” He dropped his head in his hands, and whined.

“Shut up, Jaemin. You’re being dramatic.”

He looked up, and made a face. “You shut up, Hyuck. You’re lucky that you got Renjun as your partner.”

Taking a bite of his cold pizza, he thought about where he would move to after his parents disowned him for failing. 

* * *

 

Jaemin was on the way to the bus stop when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Are you Na Jaemin?”

He turned around to see a boy dressed in nearly all black attire. Lee Jeno.

“Yes…”

“Sweet. You’re my partner for the project right?”

Jaemin nodded, and kept walking. He heard footsteps next to him, and knew Jeno was going to keep talking to him.

“So, uh, would you like to meet sometime during the week?”

Jaemin’s eyes widened. “Really? Already?”

“Um, yeah. The project is kind of due in two weeks,” Jeno smiled.

Jaemin blushed and shook his head. “Oh yeah, sorry. Sure, what day?”

“Tomorrow and Wednesday if that’s okay with you?”

Jaemin thought for a bit, and then nodded. “Sounds good, Jeno. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Jeno threw another blinding smile at him, and for a little, Jaemin felt his heart skip a few beats as he watched Jeno run off.

* * *

Jaemin was at lunch waiting for his friends to finish whatever the hell they were doing when someone sat down next to him.

“Hey.”

Jaemin looked to his right, and choked on his sandwich. “Jeno. Uh, hello.”

“Did you do any work on the project?”

“To be honest, no. All I did was write our names down.”

Jeno chuckled. “Good, I thought I was supposed to do something.”

For a while, they sat in silence, hearing the occasional rustling of Jaemin’s plastic wrap and crunch of Jeno’s chips.

Jaemin felt a bit weird sitting there. To be fair, having lunch with one of the most popular kids in

school usually wasn’t in Jaemin’s agenda.

“Are you gonna eat that?”

Jaemin felt Jeno nudge him with his knee, and he blushed.

“No. Help yourself.”

Jeno nodded, and reached down to take a bite of Jaemin’s sandwich.

“Dude, what the fuck is in this sandwich? It’s good!” Jeno exclaimed as he noisily scarfed down Jaemin’s food.

“Um. I actually have no idea. I just picked up a random sandwich from the convenience store.”

“Hm. Can you get me another one of these? I promise I’ll pay you back,” Jeno pleaded.

“No problem. Here, I guess you can have the rest. I’m not too hungry today.”

Jeno grinned and grabbed the sandwich out of his hands, and Jaemin felt himself weaken at his eye smile.

_“Are you sure he’s the campus bad boy? He’s so smiley and happy, and oh my god, I just wanna squish-”_

“Thanks for the sandwich, Jaemin. Oh, and where should we meet for the project?”

Jaemin felt heat coming to his face again. “Is your house okay?”

He saw Jeno’s smile falter, but it quickly returned. “Sorry, my house isn’t in the best condition right now. Can we do yours then?”

Jaemin nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you after school then.”

Sending a grateful look towards Jaemin, Jeno threw his trash away, and then walked away, probably trying to find his friends.

Just as Jaemin finally had some alone time to pull out his book, he heard whistling and cheering coming towards him.

‘Ooh, Jaemin. I saw you had a little lunch date there with Lee Jeno.”

Jaemin looked up, annoyed, to see his five devilish best friends. “It wasn’t a lunch date.”

“Yeah, sure. It’s not like you gave him your food and were basically giving each other heart eyes.” Donghyuck taunted.

Jaemin felt himself flush again for what seemed to be the thousandth time. “You guys saw that? Why didn’t you guys come over?”

“No reason. We just wanted to see what would happen. Anyways, wanna hang out with us after school?”

“Sorry. I’m gonna be with Jeno.”

“Wow, already the second date?” Donghyuck snorted, and Mark only groaned and pleaded for him to stop.

“No, remember we still have a project to do? And besides, I-”

Jaemin was cut off by the bell. Back to hell they went, as they said their good byes and walked to class separately.

* * *

 

When class finally ended, Jaemin walked outside to see Jeno waiting near the gates, so he walked up to him.

“Hi. Let’s go?”

Jeno nodded, and started walking.

They walked in some what of an awkward silence, before Jaemin spoke up.

“So, how was class?”

The other boy shrugged. “It was okay. I didn’t really pay attention that much, and honestly, I kind of regret that. I haven’t really been getting the material lately, and considering finals are coming up, that isn’t a good thing.”

“I can tutor you if you want,” Jaemin blurted out.

Jeno stared at him. “Really?”

He nodded.

“Oh, thank you. You really are an angel.”

And of course, Jaemin blushed.

* * *

 

After finally deciding on what to do for their project, they just sat on Jaemin’s bed doing nothing.

“I actually don’t want to get started on this. Let’s just do nothing!”

Jeno threw himself backwards onto Jaemin’s bed.

“I don’t either. But, doing nothing is boring.”

“Then what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know.”

So, they just sat there, occasionally asking questions about each other or scrolling on their phones, until it was time for Jeno to go home.

“Thanks for letting me come over, Jaemin. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Jaemin smiled. “No problem.”

“Oh, wait. Before I forget, let’s exchange numbers. It’ll let us talk easier.”

Jaemin nodded and pulled out his phone to give it to Jeno, while Jeno gave him his.

Jaemin typed in his number and saved his contact as ‘Nana’, and handed his phone back to Jeno.

Jeno snorted at his name. “Nana? That’s cute. Bye, Jaemin!”

And with that Jeno stepped out of his house and started walking home.

Jaemin felt like he was fading. 

* * *

 

_Jenojam: do u like coffee_

_Nana: rly? Jenojam?_

_Jenojam: that’s what my friends call me bcuz I make bad jokes._

_Nana: oh hehe. But yes I love coffee._

_Jenojam: what do you usually get?_

_Nana: a veinti iced americano, ice and no water, and 4 espresso shots_

_Jenojam: …ur going to die_

_Nana: I’m aware_

_Nana: and why are u asking_

_Jenojam: no reason_

_Nana: uh huh. Sure. See u at school_

* * *

“I’m going to combust, guys.”

Jaemin’s friends looked up at him quizzically.

“Are you okay?” Mark asked.

“I stayed up late doing homework, and then I also woke up late, so I couldn’t get coffee. I’m having withdrawals. Someone please get me coffee,” Jaemin whined.

“Nope. You’re an addict.”

Jaemin scoffed. “Okay, someone other than Jisung get me coffee,”

Everyone else shook their heads and Jaemin cried out in disbelief.

“Some friends you are. I just want coffee,” Jaemin dragged out every syllable dramatically as he slumped down on the bench.

“I’ve been betrayed by the people I love,” He grumbled.

“Jaemin.”

Jaemin jumped in surprise as he looked up.

“Oh, hi, Jeno. What’s up?” Jaemin waved tiredly at him.

“I got you coffee.”

Jaemin’s head perked up, as he looked in Jeno’s hands. There it was, his nearly pitch-black poison drink.

“Oh my god. Thank you. You’re the only real friend I have. See guys? I’m replacing you snakes.”

Donghyuck just snorted as Jaemin gladly took the drink from Jeno’s hands.

“Really, you shouldn’t have done that. He’s a recovering addict.”

Jaemin waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t listen to anything they say. I don’t think you’ll understand either. All I hear is hiss hiss, you snakes.”

They all burst out in laughter, and Jeno clapped Jaemin on the shoulder.

“Uh huh. You’re cute, Nana. See you after school!”

Jeno waved, and he walked into the library. Jaemin didn’t bother waving back, as he was too busy drinking his coffee.

“He’s so whipped for you already. Are you sure he’s the bad boy? And are you sure you guys aren’t dating? You’ve known each other for like, a week.”

“I know right? He’s actually pretty soft. But no, he’s not whipped. See you guys later, I’m going to work on the project.”

And then Jaemin walked off, leaving his friends to gossip about him and Jeno.

* * *

 

When Jaemin walked out of school that day, he felt an anger immediately rise up.

He stalked up to Jeno and smacked him.

“What are you doing?”

Jeno looked shocked, as he let out the puff of smoke. “Smoking…”

“Stop it.”

Jaemin took the cigarette out of his hand, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it.

“You could’ve let me finish it,” Jeno whined.

“Hell no, Mr. Lee. Did your parents not tell you not to do that?”

Jeno grimaced. “They never really…never, they never did anything.”

Jaemin raised his eyebrow at Jeno’s stutter. “Oh. Well, I suppose I’ll tell you. Lee Jeno, if I ever see you smoking again, I’m going to cut off your balls.”

The older choked. “Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

He gave a lopsided grin to Jaemin, and took his hand, motioning him to get going so they could work on their project.

Jaemin never really bothered to bring up Jeno’s family life after that. He saw how the other was uncomfortable with that, so he dropped it.

* * *

 

The two weeks went by quickly, and they finally turned in their project.

“Finally. We’re free!” Jaemin did a little happy dance, and Jeno laughed at him.

“I think we did great. Anyways, I gotta go, Jaemin. I-”

Jeno was cut off with a pair of lips on his cheek.

“Bye, Jeno.” Jaemin said softly as he walked towards his friends’ table.

 And that’s when Jeno knew he was a whipped man.

* * *

 After their project was over, the two started seeing each other less and less over the months. Sure, they were still friends, smiling at each other in the hallways, the occasional hug after school, but nothing really special.

“I miss Jeno.”

“Then go hang out with him?” Renjun replied without looking up from his phone.

“I don’t know where he is.”

“You have his number.”

“I’m too lazy. And now I still miss Jeno.” Renjun scoffed at him.

“You’re absolutely useless. Oh, hi Jeno.”

Jaemin’s eyes widened as he turned around. “H-hi.”

Jeno’s eyes turned into crescents as he grinned. “I miss you too, Jaemin. Sorry, I’ve been a bad friend.”

“It’s alright,” Jaemin replied as Jeno pulled him into a hug.

“I got you coffee to say sorry. And some chapstick. They felt really chapped,” Jeno leaned in to whisper the last part and stuffed the strawberry chapstick into Jaemin’s hand.

“Shut up!” Jaemin groaned and buried his face in his hands while Jeno giggled.

“What are you two going on about?”

Renjun finally put his book away, and were now observing them.

“Nothing. I was just teasing Jaemin about how chapped his lips were when he- mmph!”

Jaemin covered Jeno’s mouth with his hands. “It’s really nothing, Injun.”

“Hey, Injun. What are the two lovebirds doing?”

He looked to his left, and saw Donghyuck, Mark, Jisung, and Chenle approaching.

“Oh no, not you guys. Jeno, leave.”

Jeno whined. “Noooo, I just got here,”

He latched his arms around Jaemin. “I’m staying here.”

“Honestly, Lee Jeno. I though you were tough. I was wrong.”

Jeno snorted and finally let go, and ran his hand through his hair. Jaemin felt his heart speed up.

“Okay, I guess I’ll leave now. Bye, Nana.” And to Jaemin’s dismay, he pressed his lips on Jaemin’s forehead. He smiled innocently, then walked away, slightly laughing at Jaemin’s agape mouth.

For a while, Jaemin and his friends were silent before Chenle spoke up.

“It be like that sometimes.” 

* * *

 

“Wow, Chenle, what a legend. You tell Minju she’s a hoe. You’re not wrong.”

Jaemin sat on his bed, talking to Chenle since he just finished his homework.

“Your mind is so powerful, no wonder Jisung is in love with you. Chenle, wait. Stop screaming, my ears-“

_Thud._

Jaemin’s head perked up. “Hang on, Chenle. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

He hung up, and then heard another small thud from his window. He slowly walked over towards it, slightly creeped out, and opened the window.

“Jaemin.”

He heard his name whispered, and he peered out into the darkness.

“Down here. It’s me, Jeno.”

He looked down, and could barely make out the figure of a boy, standing below his window.

“What are you doing? Why are you throwing pebbles at my window? It’s eleven o’ clock.”

“Please let me come in. I promise I’ll explain.”

“Okay, I will. But how?”

“I’ll climb. Just open the window really widely.”

Jaemin made a sound of protest, before realizing he couldn’t let Jeno in through the front door. His parents were probably still awake watching TV.

“Ugh, fine. Be careful.”

Jaemin fully opened his window, and stepped back to wait. He turned around to tidy up his bed, and after a few minutes, heard Jeno come into his room.

“Now, Jeno. What the hell are you doing here so late? Don’t you have homework, or-”

When Jaemin turned around to face Jeno, he saw Jeno leaning onto the windowsill for support, bruises and cuts littering his face. As Jaemin stared in horror, he could make out tear tracks on Jeno’s face.

“Jeno…What?”

Jeno opened his mouth to answer, but his knees buckled, and he started to fall. That shook Jaemin out of his reverie, and he rushed over to catch Jeno.

“Jeno. Are you okay? Wait, don’t answer that. You’re obviously not okay. What happened?” Jaemin rambled as he set Jeno down on the bed.

“Did you get into a fight?”

Jeno shook his head.

“Did you accidentally hurt yourself?”

Another head shake.

“Do you want to tell me, then?”

Jeno slowly nodded. “Mom. Dad. Hurt me.”

He spoke in a soft and choked up voice that made Jaemin’s chest hurt.

“Jeno…I’m sorry. How can I help?”

“You can’t.”

Jaemin felt terrible with a capital T. “Do you need a hug?”

“Yeah.”

He sat up, and scooted over to where Jaemin was sitting, burying his face into the crook of Jaemin’s neck. He felt a wetness on his collarbone, and then realized Jeno was crying.

“Shh. They’re not here anymore. You’re okay now.”

Jaemin rubbed circles into Jeno’s back in hopes of calming him down. Eventually, Jeno’s ragged breath smoothened, and he pulled away.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away.”

“Don’t be sorry. Has this ever happened before?”

“No. It’s the first time they’ve ever physically tried to hurt me.”

“Physically?”

Jeno winced, “Yeah.”

“So that means…”

“Yeah. Well, I guess I’ll be going now. I feel bad for bothering you.”

Jeno looked at the floor, ashamed, but Jaemin grew angry.

He took Jeno’s face in his hands and stared him straight in the eye.

“Lee Jeno. You aren’t bothering me. This is a serious problem, and I’m glad you told me now. I care about your well-being, and even though they’ve only hurt you once, I have no doubt they’ll do it again. Please, Jeno. Listen to me, get help. Please,” Jaemin felt like crying. His heart clenched at Jeno’s situation.

Jeno swallowed. “Okay. I will. I’ll get help. Thank you.”

Jaemin let go of Jeno’s face and stood up. “Let me clean the cuts.”

“Fine.”

After Jaemin finished cleaning Jeno’s face, Jeno got ready to leave. It was already almost one AM.

“Thank you, Jaemin. I’m gonna go now.”

“Where are you going to go?”

“Probably to Lucas’ house. Don’t worry.”

Jaemin worried. “Just be careful, okay? And don’t forget what I said.”

“I won’t. Goodbye.”

Jeno turned to climb out the window, but Jaemin pulled on his arm.

“Wait.”

 Confused, Jeno turned around. Jaemin bit his lip, contemplating if he should really do it before he said, “Fuck it.”

He leaned in and kissed the corner of Jeno’s mouth. “Stay safe, Jeno.”

He whispered, and pushed Jeno towards the window. After Jaemin knew Jeno had reached the ground safely, he shut the window, collapsed on his bed and sighed. 

* * *

 

For the next few weeks, Jeno didn’t appear at school. Of course, Jaemin was noticeably worried, and Jaemin’s friends started to be worried too. They voiced their concern after school one day while finally having some time to talk to each other.

“Is Jeno okay, Jaemin? I haven’t seen him in P.E. for a while.” Mark asked.

Jaemin looked at the ground sadly. “I don’t know.”

Renjun pulled him into a hug. “Hey. He’s probably okay. Just going through a rough time.”

“I sure hope so. He hasn’t texted me either.”

“I think it’ll be okay, Nana. Don’t worry. My spidey-senses are telling me that,” Donghyuck grinned.

The table was filled with laughter. “Very funny, Hyuck. I’m gonna get going now. Gotta bake cookies.”

“Bye, Jaem. Hope you find out what’s going on with Jeno soon.”

“See you!”

He waved at his friends and jogged out to the front gates. There, he saw a boy, dressed in a familiar black, leather jacket.

“Jeno?”

“Hi, Jaemin.”

Jaemin stopped in his tracks, but quickly regained his senses. He marched straight up to Jeno and punched him square in the shoulder.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?”

“How dare you just disappear without a trace for nearly a month? No texts, no calls, no nothing? I was so worried, Lee Jeno, I swear to god. If you ever, ever, do that again, the last thing you’ll ever see is my shoe in your face!”

Jaemin took deep breaths while Jeno was stifling his laughter.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I promise. I just, got help like you told me to.”

Jaemin’s eyes softened. “I see. I’m glad you took my advice.”

“Your change in mood truly amazes me sometimes. Come here,” Jeno opened his arms, and Jaemin gladly stepped in them.

“Sorry for making you worried,” Jeno mumbled into Jaemin’s hair.

“It’s okay. I knew you were just trying to get everything sorted out. I missed your ugly face.”

Jeno let out a noise of offense. “Hey. I’m not that ugly,”

Jaemin smiled fondly. “You kind of are,”

He reached out to trace the little scars that the cuts left behind with his thumb, and carded his fingers through Jeno’s hair before finally letting his hand rest on Jeno’s jaw.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Jeno gave him a little smile before grabbing Jaemin by the waist and pulling him closer.

 “Can I kiss you?”

Jaemin’s breath hitched, as he stared at Jeno for a bit. He slowly nodded his head, and that’s all it took for Jeno to lean in and close the distance between them.

Their lips moved slowly against each other, and Jaemin couldn’t be more intoxicated by the taste of Jeno on his lips.

Jeno tasted like the strawberry chapstick that he gave him weeks back. He tasted like the coffee that came from the shop they went to when they had to pull an all-nighter on their project. He tasted like the salt from McDonald’s French fries that they got late one night after skipping dinner.

And he also tasted strangely like home.

After pulling apart, Jeno rested his forehead against Jaemin’s.

“I think I love you.”

…

“I love you too.”

* * *

 

“Hey, Jaemin.”

“Huh? Oh, hello.”

Jaemin set down his sandwich to look up at Jeno.

“Oh, Jeno! You’re okay! Where have you been?” Mark exclaimed.

“I’ve just been working on some stuff at home, you know.”

“Jaemin was seriously worried sick,” Renjun added.

Jeno smirked at Jaemin’s reddening face. “So I’ve heard. It’s great to know that you worry.”

“Shut up, Jeno.”

“Be nice, baby. I got you flowers and coffee. I couldn’t be a better boyfriend.”

“I guess you’re right,” Jaemin smiled at his friends’ expressions, “Come here,”

Jeno leaned in to give Jaemin a peck on the lips, and the table went crazy.

But Jaemin frowned.

“Jeno, did you just eat something? You taste kinda off.”

“No? I just got you these…”

Jaemin’s brow furrowed. “Why do you taste like that sometimes? Sometimes when I kiss you, you just taste like strawberry or coffee. Sometimes you taste like…”

Jaemin’s eyes widened in realization. “Lee Jeno. Have you been smoking?”

Jeno smiled nervously. “Um.”

Jaemin deadpanned, and handed a snickering Donghyuck his flowers and coffee.

“I’m gonna cut your balls off. You’ll never have kids.”

“I can’t anyway. I’m gay.”

Jaemin grew red at his friends’ laughter. “Not the point, Jeno. Does anyone have scissors?”

The other boys just backed away, especially Jeno.

“Now, babe. Let’s not make rash decisions. My bad, okay?”

“I’m not kissing you anymore until you stop.”

“But, Jaemin,” He whined.

“Nope. Mark, Hyuck, Lele, Renjun, and Jisung, you are my witnesses. I, Na Jaemin, am not kissing Lee Jeno until he stops smoking. Got it?”

Everyone nodded solemnly much to Jeno’s dismay. “I can’t believe I love you. You’re ridiculous.”

“Well, that sounds like a you problem. But, I love you too.”

Jeno intertwined their fingers as their friends gagged and booed.

"Let’s go.”

“Wait, my coffee.”

“God damnit, Jaemin.”

* * *

 

Sure, Jaemin didn’t like cigarettes. And sure, he didn’t really like the strawberry chapstick that much. But, that’s fine. Because strawberries and cigarettes always tasted like Jeno, and Jaemin didn’t mind Jeno one bit.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> idk what this is i'm just procrastinating lol


End file.
